North Carolina State University received $1.7 million today to buy about 288 acres of land in Tyrrell County after shelving more expensive plans to build a golf course on the property.

The directors of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, a state agency which gives grants to improve water quality, approved the grant to acquire land adjacent to the Eastern 4-H Environmental Education Conference Center after the university revised its request.

University officials agreed to use the land for passive recreation such as walking trails and playing fields.

The university initially had sought $5.8 million to acquire nearly 400 acres to build an environmentally friendly golf course. But university officials scrapped that plan after news reports publicizing it raised objections.

Richard Rogers, executive director of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, said funding land for a golf course was not consistent with the mission of the trust, and trustees were uncomfortable with it.

"The general sense was it would not make sense to put a conservation easement on the property, then allow the development of a golf course," Rogers said.